Sharing our food successes and failures, new recipes and old favorites...and throwing in some great money-saving deals here and there!

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About Me

I'm a stay-at-home mom to Lindsay (born 12/21/06), Luke (born 5/25/09) and Jakob (5/13/12). My husband (lovingly referred to as "the boy") and I have been married since 06/05/04. While not tethered to my computer, I'm either playing with the kiddos, running, working out, reading, or enjoying a glass of wine.

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Monday, January 10, 2011

I just made one of these with my friend, Katie, and after making it with her, I decided I had to have one of my own! It turned out just the way I expected it and not only did the boy and I enjoy it, but so did Linds - even with all the veggies :) I was so, so happy - we all need more veggies in our diet. Luke boycotted dinner...again...I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, huh?!

I bought regular frozen pie crusts and when I mixed everything together, there was WAY too much filling. I mixed the veggies/chicken and sauce, then divided in two and froze the other half. Now I have another pot pie ready to go (as soon as I buy more crusts!).

In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, potatoes and celery. Add bullion cube and water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.

In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.

Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust (making a dome on top), seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

The boy and I had a serious hankerin for some ribs, so I decided to make them on Saturday since they require a good hour in the morning to prep, crock potting all day, and half-hour in the evening to finish. I only have that free hour in the morning on Tuesdays and Fridays, so making ribs during the week is kinda tough. As usual, they turned out perfectly and he and I ate like crazy! Naturally Luke refused them (although he usually is a fiend...some sort of weird dinner aversion for him lately), and Linds was vomiting all Friday night, so we weren't about to even tempt fate. Luke did, however, eat many pieces of cornbread, so at least he put *something* in his system!

Speaking of cornbread, I did a little something different. It usually calls for buttermilk, which I don't ever keep on hand. There's an easy substitution with vinegar and regular milk, but I needed my laptop to look that one up and it was in the basement...I was too lazy to go downstairs, so I checked my Joy of Cooking to see if it listed it. It did not give me that specific substitution, but it did suggest yogurt instead of the buttermilk. I was curious to see how that turned out, so I figured, what the hell?! The boy doesn't eat it, so worst case scenario, I don't get my cornbread. I'm glad I tried it - it was awesome! AND saved me some calories. I also bought a microwavable sweet potato, cooked it and used the mashed part in the batter rather than grating the uncooked potato. That was also a better alternative because now there was no "crunch" to the bread. This recipe far outweighs the older one I posted!

I was looking over some old blog posts and came across the night I made cashew honey chicken. It was a huge hit before, so I figured it would be a sure hit. The boy and I still liked it as much (although this time he liked the beans and not the cashews - totally opposite of before). Linds ate a little, although this was the night before she got sick, so she didn't scarf it down like she did before. Luke? Well, Luke's been boycotting dinners again. ::SIGH:: My favorite part? It's super low-cal (only 190/serving with 4 total servings in the batch - not including the rice). Here's the recipe!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

This one's for all the mamas out there...while I never formula-fed either of my kiddos, I know lots and lots of parents who would only feed their babies Enfamil. Click on the photo below and it will take you to Enfamil's site (yes, this is 100% legit) and you'll be able to print a certificate for a free sample of Enfamil!

I came across this recipe on allrecipes.com and with only 5 ingredients it surely looked like a keeper! Well, the boy thought it was pretty good, I enjoyed it, but Luke? Definitely not. Lindsay? She gagged on it so badly she had to spit hers in the trashcan. Needless to say we won't be making this again anytime soon (or if we do, it will be on a night when the kids are eating something else!).

In a shallow dish or bowl mix together bread crumbs and cheese. Dip one side of each breast into melted butter or margarine, then into crumb/cheese mixture.

Place a dollop of cheese spread at one end of each chicken breast, on the side of the breast not dipped in the mixture. Roll up each breast and secure with toothpicks.

Place rollups in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish and drizzle any remaining butter or margarine over all. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through and juices run clear.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Vacation has finally come to an end (and it's about damn time!)...as sad as it is to see it go, I definitely look forward to some routine in my life. I figured since Monday was the first day back, Sunday dinners should be back in order. I decided to make a HUGE vat of spaghetti meat sauce so we'd have lots for future meals. It was lots of fun! Linds helped make it with me while the boys played downstairs and watched football. It was a strangely stereotypical division of labor (which if you know me, you know that's not how I normally am), but it was a great time nonetheless.

My little helper:

I'm also trying to incorporate more veggies in my meals...one of my resolutions for this year...so I roasted some broccoli to go with it. And, finally, after Lindsay's party, we were left with two double packages of hot dog rolls, so I used them to make some garlic bread. Naturally, the broccoli was not a hit, but everything else was. Here are the recipes!

In a large bowl, toss broccoli florets with the extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, pepper and garlic. Spread the broccoli out in an even layer on a baking sheet.

Bake in the preheated oven until florets are tender enough to pierce the stems with a fork, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove and transfer to a serving platter. Squeeze lemon juice liberally over the broccoli before serving for a refreshing, tangy finish.

In a small bowl, mix butter, olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Spread the mixture evenly on the bread slices.

On a medium baking sheet, arrange the slices evenly and broil 5 minutes, or until slightly brown. Check frequently so they do not burn.

And, as a special treat, we made chocolate milkshakes for dessert. Those were simple - chocolate ice cream, milk, and a little sprinkle of Nestle chocolate powder. I added a bit of Papa Kaminski's Kahlua to mine which made it even better ;-)

If you're anything like me, you're a sucker for a cup of coffee made by someone else...for some reason, my brew just doesn't taste as good no matter if I use the same beans or not. If I'm out and about, I'm known to splurge on Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts if the opportunity presents itself. I didn't realize, however, Starbucks has a rewards program, so of course I signed up and wanted to share the offer with you, too :) Just click the image below to sign up (all of the perks are listed below). Enjoy!

Congratulations to Courtney Z. for winning our end of the year contest! She correctly guessed two of the three top meals and wins a 60-minute photography session with Kristina Hall Photography. I'll e-mail you soon to give you details and give you Kristi's information :) Thanks everyone for playing!

And, for the results! I'll count them down, so in third place we have...

Ham & Cheese Loaf!

First, unroll the refrigerated pizza crust on a baking sheet.

Second, lay down some slices of provolone (or your favorite cheese).

Third, place about a dozen slices of ham deli meat down.

Fourth, top with some shredded cheddar cheese (I was out, so I used Mexican cheese).And, last of all, roll the long side up, pinching the seam after it is in roll form.

Tuck ends under and bake for 35 minutes at 350. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Place salsa, scallions, chicken, beans, corn, half the chilies, and enchilada sauce into the cooker; stir well. Cover with lid and cook on LOW for 4 hours.

Combine the other half of the chiles, corn muffin mix, egg substitute, and chopped red pepper in a bowl. Spoon batter evenly over the bean mixture in the cooker. Cover and cook 1 hour until the crust is done.

Sprinkle the cheese over the corn bread, turn off the crockpot and let it sit 5 minutes until the cheese melts. Top each serving with a tablespoon of sour cream and additional cilantro, optional. Makes about 6 servings (unless you're me, then it's like 3...haha!).

I found some of those recipes to be surprising (really? the ham and cheese loaf got that many hits?), but thinking back those were all unanimous hits in our house at one point or another. As we hit 2011 I've been deciding what I want to do with this blog, and I think I'm going to keep it going. I'm trying to incorporate some more vegetarian dishes (which we never have enough of), more fish/seafood meals, and less casserole dishes in favor of more healthy fare (although I won't lie - we'll definitely still have many of them). And as always, if you have inspiration, send it my way...I'm always looking for more :) Happy New Year, dear readers! xoxox